ReYa

BroCon Interview: Ciaran Lucas

I took the chance to have a sit down and talk comics with Ciaran Lucas at BroCon in Limerick. Ciaran has been making a living as a digital artist since 2007. So far he has mostly been working as a Colorist and inker. Some of the comics he has been working on are Jenna Blue, Vincent Price and Angel (as in the comic version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer spin off), but also children’s illustrations for school books and for the Irish scouts.

So, what do you think is the biggest difference between working with comics in Ireland and in other places?

Ciaran: Ireland doesn’t have a lot of big publishers like in the UK and in America, so you can’t really make a living from just publishing here. Ireland has a lot of small press publishers with a lot of really great story telling and artwork, so I’m looking forward to what will happen here in the future.
Previously to get published in America you really had to be in the location and be at the local Cons there to show your portfolio, but now with the internet, it’s much easier to get your thing out there and cheaper as well.

Where do you see comics in the future?

Ciaran: I think there’s a great future in digital comics, but it’s very early on and a lot of people are still trying out the formats (ipads, e-readers, laptops), trying to see what works and doesn’t. At the moment, a lot of companies are releasing back issues of their existing work, but I don’t really think they are getting the moat out of the medium just yet. It will be exciting to see what they learn from that and what new content specifically geared towards the devices will look like. I think it will be interesting to see where that goes.

Are there a lot of Irish comic artist out there and what do they do?

Ciaran: There are quite a number of artists at the moment. Quite a few work in the UK and America at publishers there but also a number have started to work more and more with digital comics. A group called the Eclectic Micks www.eclecticmicks.blogspot.com have a daily sketchblog with a group of irish comic artists taking turns to upload fresh art each day. Other artists such as Adam Law create their own webcomics, with his previous successful comics Press Start to Play and current venture of Felicity www.99reasonstowin.com

What do you think started the manga scene for most people in Ireland?

Ciaran: For most people it would probably be Pokémon and later Dragon ball Z that was airing on Irish TV around 1999 or 2000. I myself was caught by Dragon ball Z and started drawing after that.

As the Con starts closing around us, we decide it’s time to go home. After thanking Ciaran for the talk, I head out into the Limerick night.

To see Ciaran’s work you can go to: http://charco.deviantart.com